it seems like a major conflict of interest to have an nba owned team. If the lakers win the ring, you better believe this trade will go right there with the refs rigged the kings series in order to allow la to succeed.

i honestly dont like it. But at the same time, hard to not be happy when you land cp3 instead of fisher/blake. I guess we'll see. Bynum better stay healthy though. And with ron slowing down, maybe he can play some 4. Doubt too many pf's are gonna push him aorund down low.

I don't like it but if we can trade Bynum to get D12 and also sign a decent power forward, and get a Drew Gooden to play Lamar's role of the bench its a great win... If not its pointless... This trade only works if Dwight Howard joins...

If you ask me, Kobe must be celebrating, if this does indeed go down. We all know Derek Fisher can't throw and entry pass of his life, and now that Kobe has Paul, he won't have to start posting up from the three point line, lol.

he going to a bigger market regardless... This makes no sense NOT to trade him especially right now... Its no way they will get anyone to buy that team especially if Paul walks away for free... This is the best they are going to do right now... They can be mad all they want that's why the NBA is full of trash owners... And they got their wishes for 50/50 they need to stop crying they gonna make money regardless and getting double for luxury cap penalties I don't see the problem here...

Apparently none of these owners took a look at what the Lakers frontcourt would be after the deal went down. They couldn't envision a game in February where Bynum was out with a knee injury when the Lakers had Paul, Kobe, World Peace, Yi Jianlian, and Derrick Caracter starting with D-League callup Brandon Costner stepping in after Caracter's second foul three minutes in.

Anyway, the Rockets are the ones who would have come out on top. They get their much needed center. The question is what gets the owners to give in? If Houston and the Lakers kick in another first round each (giving New Orleans four in 2012 along with their own and that of the Knicks), would that be enough?

Now where is the conspiracy coming from...This &$#%#&@! bulls&$#%#&@!. Talk about getting cheated out of titles. I'm so &$#%#&@! irrate right now. We got screwed because owners knew that CP3 with Kobe meant Kobe could go back to scoring and dominating. Again, now where is the conspiracy coming from.

Iguapops, you have driven me to post, which I rarely do. SHUT THE F**K UP. I F**K*NG HATE Kobe fans sometimes. The owners are not out to get Kobe, Jesus! The owners just don't want the lockout to have been in vain! They don't care about the Lakers getting Paul; as the smart Lakers fans on this forum pointed out, it was a fair trade, maybe even in favor of the Hornets. What they care about is the slippery slope after the Lakers get Paul! Dwight is going to see the potential in L.A., hold the Magic hostage just like CP3 just did, and screw the Magic out of better trade offers by refusing to sign long term anywhere but L.A. The owners know damn well what the signing of Chris Paul will lead to.

You really think the owners are sitting there saying "man, I don't want Kobe to go back to scoring and dominating so lets block a trade that takes away his teams versatility and best big man." No. They are blocking a trade because they know the Lakers are about to get two of the top 5 players in the game for a bunch of old (albeit good) players. That is the furthest thing from competitive balance, and would further ruin small market teams.

the trade was fair. houston get pau.la gets thier superstar. and NO gets a whole lot of borderline allstars.the owners got mad cuz they think dwight will end up in la to but i think orlando will rather see him go for nothiong than get bynum straight up whos injury prone.

Yes that is exactly the sentiment. And it's not really Kobe, it's the Lakers in general. Funny how only big market teams actually have a chance such as Bos, NYK, and a young super team in the making LAC along with my Lakeshow, but yet the Lakers are the only team who are actually not allowed to get a player they trade for. And now suddenly, the trade has hit a snag, not because of league owners being upset as originally reported, but because LAL gets no big in return. SOunds like a load of crap to me.

BTW, very smart post baller21 '___' He says as he rolls his eyes. Yeah, the league worried about another super team yet the other teams involved were both small market and were actually excited about getting the deal they got. Not to mention if small market teams are going to keep making dumb decisions, why help them out.
LAC

Miami signed as free agents so it's different, a team owned by the league wasn't involved. It's not like the league stepped in and told a team they couldn't make a deal -- they OWN the Hornets, it was their choice. Just because they got pressured into the veto doesn't mean they can't do it. You can't compare this situation to any other, as the league doesn't own the other teams. That's why I don't think this veto will set a precedent....

In regards to those other teams, they wouldn't be getting Dwight as well. Plus, those teams didn't already get a superstar dealt to them for hardly anything a few years ago like the Lakers. But most importantly, as I said above, the league knew Dwight was coming in an unfair trade, so they put an end to the domino effect.

Lastly, notice you changed from saying the league doesn't like Kobe to the league doesn't like the Lakers, both of which are bs, but the latter is probably slightly more true. Alot of people feel like the Lakers already were given Pau as a gift, and don't want to see the same thing happen with Dwight.

We've long suspected that many of the NBA's owners are only dimly aware of what makes a basketball team successful.

Now we have proof.

Set aside the league's laughable news release that Chris Paul's trade to the Los Angeles Lakers was blocked "for basketball reasons." I guess David Stern was concerned about Kevin Martin's defensive plus-minus.

No, the widely suspected reason that I'm only writing about an imaginary trade instead of a real one is that the league's owners were so irate over the agreed-to deal to send Paul from the New Orleans Hornets to the Lakers that they implored commissioner David Stern to block it. ... Apparently, because they were so focused on the idea of another shiny object going to the Lakers that they didn't really look at what was happening.

The Lakers had agreed to trade Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom to New Orleans to get Paul, a trade that sent from Los Angeles an All-Star power forward and the league's best sixth man, also a forward. As a result, L.A. was left with just one credible frontcourt player --Andrew Bynum, who has missed at least 17 games in each of the past four seasons. Bynum will be suspended for the first five games this season after belting J.J. Barea in the playoffs, meaning the Lakers were looking at an opening night frontcourt of Derrick Caracter andLuke Walton.

Yes, this was offset with a monumental upgrade at point guard, but look at the big picture. Pau-for-Paul is pretty much an even swap. Last season they had virtually identical marks in player efficiency rating (23.33 for Gasol and 23.76 for Paul) and estimated wins added (17.9 and 18.3). Yes, Gasol is five years older, but he also has a much better injury history. Additionally, big men age much better than small guards, primarily because it doesn't make them any shorter.

Plus, I would argue that Gasol is a better fit in L.A. than Paul. For starters, Kobe Bryant and Paul have only one ball to share on the perimeter. But more importantly, Paul is a pick-and-roll maestro who thrives when surrounded by spot-up shooters, pick-and-pop big men and a finisher who can roll to the rim. This isn't Kobe, who struggles as a spot-up shooter, and it isn't Bynum, who likes to catch and hold in the post. In fact, the only four Lakers who really fit that style are Gasol and Odom, who were getting shipped off, and Derek Fisher andSteve Blake, whom Paul would have replaced.

All of that makes me queasy from L.A's end about Pau-for-Paul straight up. Throwing in Odom, when the team has no depth and little means to replace him, tilts it heavily in the Hornets' favor. The Lakers would have had an $8.9 million trade exception, but with no meaningful assets (and I mean NONE) to put in a trade, they were going to have a big problem using it to get anybody good.

I suspect this is actually a case of misplaced anger. The owners were so upset about the possibility of Dwight Howard forming a "Super Friends" team with Paul and Kobe that they forgot the logistics of doing so.

Newsflash to L.A.: Andrew Bynum alone doesn't get you Howard. Not even close. Trade Bynum and Gasol and you might get Howard, but you might not. A lot of teams are fishing in that pond and most of them have better bait.

This is where people argue that Howard can "force" his way to Los Angeles, just like Chris Paul forced his way to New York. Er, check that ... that was Carmelo Anthony.

But there was one big difference during the Melo chase last season: The Knicks were going to have cap space, so the leverage Anthony held was real. Trade me there now, or I'll go there on my own later. In Howard's case, the Lakers have no plausible means of signing him as a free agent, and they wouldn't have had the trade assets to strike a deal with the Magic had they made the Paul deal.

The irony of all this, in other words, is that the owners were so upset about the Lakers potentially getting Howard, that they nixed a trade that would have virtually killed any chance of that happening.

In the meantime, the Houston Rockets have to be upset. Houston took a gamble here, but getting Gasol would have opened up a crucial $3 million more in cap space it could have used to offer Nene a max contract. That frontcourt, combined with great depth and several underrated perimeter players, would likely have propelled the Rockets to a top-four seed in the West, if not better. (Scoff if you will, but Houston had the scoring margin of a 48-win team last season. It didn't need to improve that dramatically to join the elite.)

And if the Rockets are upset, the Hornets must be apoplectic. New Orleans scored three very solid, not-quite-All-Stars in Kevin Martin, Luis Scola and Odom, plus they added a scoring guard in Goran Dragic and a first-round pick, originally the New York Knicks'. The Hornets could have started those four and Emeka Okafor and likely been a one-and-done playoff team just like they were with Paul, except with a brighter future.

Instead … now what?

What does the league tell them when they have to settle for a lesser deal instead of this one, or lose Paul outright in free agency? Or when the Hornets have trouble even negotiating another Paul deal, for fear the league will swoop in at the last second after everybody on their roster has heard their name in trade talks?

Yeah, Pau was a gift since his brother Marc is garbage. Not to mention the capspace saved was put towards Z-Bo. Add in the fact that at the time Crittenton really looked like a potential stud along with 2 first round picks. Yeah they had a superstar handed to them. Also funny that you refer to Pau Gasol as a "superstar" but yet he's not enough to give up for another superstar? Yeah, that makes sense. Not to mention there has been no legit reason to think Dwight to LAL is a given other than a few beat writers. This is simply ignorant. Now based on the logic behind the L killing CP to LAL, they better do the same and allow only small market teams to be in the running for Chris. That means no Orl,Bos,NYK,LAC,Dal,Brooklyn,Chicago, or Bos. Basically they are lowballing Paul into signing an extension with a small market team who will get Paul then continue signing piss poor talent forcing Paul to be stuck in a situation where absolutely remains a loser with no chance at a title.

"Yeah, Pau was a gift since his brother Marc is garbage. Not to mention the capspace saved was put towards Z-Bo. Add in the fact that at the time Crittenton really looked like a potential stud along with 2 first round picks."

What? At the time Marc Gasol was just an add in and Z-Bo didn't come for like another year and no one knew that deal would allow him to come in and/or play as well as he has. So it's BS to use that as a way of making the trade sound good. AT THE TIME it was arguably the worst trade ever. Now looking back it was good but you can't pick and choose both in your argument.

Oh my bad, thanks for that aamir..forgot they signed him today as well. But my badm i forgot that Super teams just don't get created. Like I said Baller 21, this deal was nixed simply out of fear of LAL getting better.

Don't even try to defend that trade. No one expected Marc to be what he is, and cap space isn't a sure fire all-star like Gasol. Lots of teams would use all of their cap space for a young gasol in hindsight. Even taking Marc's development into consideration, it was a bad trade for the Grizzlies....

Pau is an old superstar and not like Dwight. Not even close. Dwight is young too. Very different.

I think you are the one with bad logic man...the only other team I could see the league blocking a trade to is the Knicks (because that's the only other team Paul would 100% sign long-term with) so Paul could force a trade there and be followed by Dwight. The league wants Paul to go to the Clippers, and lots of other big market teams! Paul just won't sign long-term anywhere besides LAL and Knicks.

Funny how they were trying to say that LAL didn't have any bigs left and that was the "basketball reason" for killing the deal, but yet LAL apparently had a secondary deal to acquire a big. Something like Turiaf perhaps?

By the way, the only reason I posted in the first place is because you were making it about Kobe, as if the owners have this huge prejudice against Kobe and will do everything in their power to see him fail. Very typical of Kobe fans, and I just get tired of it. The league adores Kobe and his marketing power.

Makes no sense that they would be ok letting players go to most large market teams, but not LAL or NYK. Thats simply ignorant. And tell me when Pau was EVER a superstar. A guy who is consistent 18-10 does NOT scream superstar to me. It screams a guy who is consistent but not Elite. He's simply a consistent player who gets you a certain amount of points and rebounds. Nothing more, nothing less. They weren't winning anything with him in Memphis. And actually , LAL were very high on Marc when they drafted him, and Pau had been talking him up to Memphis for quite some time and they had become very interested themselves after the many times he practiced with the team in Highschool. So yeah, just because Marc came out a year early and wasn't a huge name, known by the common NBA fan(such as yourself apparently), doesn't mean that GM's and the like weren't expecting good things out of him.

This is why the NBA should not own the Hornets. I had told a friend if Paul gets dealt to a contender there is a good chance it would not go through. I don't think it was just the teams competing for playoff spots that complained, but also the teams that were putting together trades that Paul didn't want to go to and the small market teams that just had no chance to get him. I agree that he is under contract for this season and is obligated to play for the Hornets or wherever they send him, but the reality is that not many teams are going to give up much for a guy that they have no idea that they can keep. The guy has went out and carried this team for years, I can't blame him for wanting to go to a better situation and finally get some real help. With that said, it's not like it was a sham. Lakers were giving up an all star big and Odom is one of the most versatile guys in the league, as well as a big part of their championship teams. It's not like they were sending out Fisher, Metta World Peace and Matt Barnes for Paul.

I'm sure everyone involved is frustrated.The deal was fair enough for all sides. I expect to see a lot of player backlash. Stern and the owners have the right to say no in regards to the Hornets, but players aren't going to be happy seeing deals struck down not because of deals being unfair, but because teams feel a contender got better or that a guy got his wish to go to a team he wanted to play for.

The league has nothing against the Lakers and it's "Dream Team" or "Big 3", but the league has a problem with the whole concept of superstars forcing their way out of small market towns, and going ot the bright lights. Although there might be some favoratism toward the Knicks from Stern, I don't believe that he would have blocked a deal to NY, and that goes back to Iguapops saying that the league is against the Lakers in particular, cause it's not. It may be against the image and concept of power teams forming, but not against the franchise. I agree that this is very unfair, and unjustice, and I think Paul will go to the legal system in regards to this matter, but the point is that it happened because the league doesn't super teams that is all, and the reason this woulnd't have happened to the Clippers, is because they are not percieved as a power house dream team, and if they were I am sure that the League would have blocked a CP3 trade there also. And I don't think the league is against a team in general, although I do think the Knicks are favored(see 1985).

The Knicks wouldn't have been killed nor would the Celtics. I don't know what to think anymore after this. What else has the league fixed? Magic and Worthy both heading to LAL. Pat Ewing to the Knicks. Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen running off with 6 titles. The Lakers beating the Kings. DWade going to the lline a record number of times in the finals. This is a disgrace and has honestly changed my perception of the NBA as a whole.